Big data linguistic analysis of legal texts - objectivity debunked?
(2022) Objectivity in Jurisprudence, Legal Interpretation and Practical Reasoning — ISBN: [9781803922621], p. 167-192, published
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- The essence of Western legal traditions, based on the concept of the rule of law, lies in the neutrality and generality of the scope of its system and its legislation. The law is said to be justified if it is verifiably general, neutral and impartial; it must be perceived as rational and meaningful. To that extent it is governed by the concept of objectivity, the character of which lies in the ability to consider or represent facts, information, etc., without being influenced by subjective elements such as particular perspectives, value commitments, community bias or personal interests, feelings or opinions, to name just a few relevant factors. In this chapter, objectivity in law will be discussed in relation to its cognitive aspect, that is, as a characteristic of rational knowledge, which in the area of law, makes a legal system and its legislation meaningful. It is the discussion of (linguistic) methodologies that can be instrumental in revealing (intertextual) meanings in texts and – in our context – highlight objectivity, or the lack of it, in legal texts. The argument evolves around semantic objectivity as the result of convention: the use of language and specific terms is deemed objective when it corresponds to the convention determined by the uses given by most speakers of a given group. The objectivity of the use of language and specific terms in a given situation can in turn be evaluated in relation to its conventional use. However, semantic objectivity in this sense does not mean that the conventional use of language and meaning is intrinsically free from bias. I will argue that language cannot be entirely neutral but is always the result of encoding meanings in particular contexts. Big data linguistic analysis provides tools to reveal contextualised encoding of meanings, both in the context of intersubjective agreement of the use of language, as well as in that of highlighting biases.
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Laske, C. (2022). Big data linguistic analysis of legal texts - objectivity debunked? In G. Vill-Rosas, J.L. Fabra-Zamora (ed.), Objectivity in Jurisprudence, Legal Interpretation and Practical Reasoning (p. p. 167-192). Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781803922638